Cause&Effect
by Endlessly Rose
Summary: AU—As a teenager you are bound to make dumb decisions. It is simply inevitable. Some of them will leave a bigger imprint on your life and others might not. Everything in life has consequences whether they are good or bad. Life is simply a series of causes and effects. You can choose whatever path you'd like, but the end results are out of reach—they are all up to fate. (Hiatus)
1. 1: It's Not Even First Period

_Cause&amp;Effect_

^It's Not Even First Period^

* * *

_As a teenager you are bound to make dumb decisions. It is simply inevitable. Some of them will leave a bigger imprint on your life and others might not. Everything in life has consequences whether they are good or bad. Life is simply a series of causes and effects. You can choose whatever path you'd like, but the end results are out of reach— they are all up to fate._

* * *

**...September...**

**Senior Year: Semester 1— Early Morning**

"Dawn," May cried.

"May," Dawn cheered.

The two ran towards each other, arms out and ready for the impending hug. Just when they were about to embrace after so long of not seeing each other, Paul stepped between them, killing the hug. Dawn growled at the smirking purple haired boy knowing that he had purposefully walked in their general direction.

"Asshole," she shouted.

"Did I get in your way, Princess?"

"Don't call me that," Dawn growled, holding up her fist and signaling that she was completely not afraid to fight him. May came up behind her friend and took her fist in her own hand, bringing it down.

"He's not worth it," May whispered. "Let's go."

After throwing Paul another irritated look, Dawn followed May to the front of the school building.

"How was your summer," May asked.

"Ugh, Unova has to be the most beautiful place ever, I swear," Dawn sighed. May smiled seeing that her friend had quickly gotten over her anger towards Paul. She honestly couldn't understand why they couldn't get along. Sure Paul was the reigning king of dicks, but weren't opposites supposed to attract? In all the romance books she read bubbly girls like Dawn worked great with the loner jerks. Perhaps book philosophy didn't work all that well in real life.

"Really? I so wish I could have come with you, but my parents are so strict," May huffed. "They act as if your mom isn't responsible just because she's a single parent. I can't understand why they are so damn judgmental all the time. It's so annoying."

"Parents will always be a mystery," Dawn stated.

May shook out her arms and took in a deep breath.

"So what'd you do?" Dawn asked, stopping at her locker which was conveniently situated right next to May's.

"I did my summer homework and that's just about it," the brunette muttered, pulling open her locker door. She unzipped her red back pack and began removing her some of her school supplies. Dawn did the same. The two girls had just entered their very last year at East Sycamore High School and packed light for the year, knowing that their senior year was all about making things up and, of course, enjoying the last year before college.

The sound of heels clicking against the tiled floor suddenly dominated the hallway. Everyone seemed to part in order to allow someone, or rather two people, to walk down the hall leisurely. Dawn turned to see who it was and wasn't surprised to see Serena Michaels strutting down the corridor. However, who stood by her side, laughing and holding her hand was what sent the girls into shock. It was Ash! Ash Ketchum, the same boy who had been devoted to their very best friend Misty Waterflower since the summer after freshman year. Dawn and May looked at each other before slamming their lockers shut and dashing off.

* * *

Misty unlocked the door of her red pickup and jumped out. She was generally atypical from most of the female population at East Sycamore High School. Unlike the majority of girls at the school, Misty drove around in a beat up, old pickup truck and she actually _liked_ it. Her fashion choices were also something that was out of the ordinary. Rather than dressing head to toe in designer labels or in flats and short maxi dresses. She preferred wearing shorts or jeans and a crop top, sometimes, when she was feeling especially lazy, Misty would actually just throw together an outfit consisting of sweatpants and a tee-shirt.

The moment her sneakers landed on the cement she was bombarded with questions from her two best friends, May and Dawn.

"You and Ash broke up?"

"Where?"

"When?"

"How?"

"Why?"

"Stop," Misty cried, holding her hands out in front of her. "I'll explain everything to you guys at lunch, okay?"

May frowned. "Why didn't you tell us earlier?"

Misty shrugged, her hands dug deep in her pants pockets. "I didn't really want to complain to you guys about my relationship issues."

"Misty! You can always tell us stuff," Dawn cried. "You're our best friend and would never under any circumstances mind."

* * *

Leaf quietly walked through the hallways, holding her books close to her chest and looking for any familiar faces. She was definitely not the most popular girl in school. Ever since last year she'd been the target of a number of bullies. Leaf honestly could not understand why. She'd never done anything, but exist. Perhaps, it was because she was an easy target. Maybe it was because her mouth was decorated ever so gorgeously with two racks of braces, one on the bottom and the other on the top. Or maybe it was because she had no defense, no friends to be her back up. The only person she truly knew in East Sycamore was Gary Oak, having known him from when they were kids. They grew up in the same neighborhood. They even played together when they were little. Things have changed since then, however. Gary seemed like a whole different person. He was not the guy who used to play hide and seek with her in his grandfather's barn or the boy she had lost her virginity to in that same place.

When their eyes would meet in the hallway, Gary's eyes would linger for a short moment before he looked away and continued talking animatedly to his friends. Leaf didn't want to talk to him anyways. He was a grade A Asshole anyways.

She walked to her locker and packed away her things. Leaf stared at the calendar upon the door of her locker, sighing as a three digit number glared back at her. She could not wait until they were down to zero that was when she could get as far away from East Sycamore as humanly possible.

**198 Days of School Left...**

* * *

**Authors Note:** I hope you guys want to read more and are excited to see the decisions that are favorite main characters are going to make. Drop a review telling me what you think.


	2. 2: Nightmare Dressed Like A Daydream

_Cause&amp;Effect_

❤A Nightmare Dressed Like a Daydream✿

* * *

**Senior Year: Semester 1— First Period**

May trudged into her first period dreadfully. Ash's older cousin, Jessie, had told her all about this teacher, yet May had still checked off to take AP Literature. May had always had a passion for writing, so when the opportunity came up to take an advanced class in the subject she had jumped at the chance. Now, she wasn't so sure about the descion. May didn't want to have to deal with an angry screaming teacher for her senior year. This was supposed to be the year of relaxation after all. Sighing, she placed her hand on the door knob and pulled it open. Other than Paul, she didn't see anybody that she knew, which meant that all the other seniors had chosen to take the easy way out.

Taking a seat in the front, May realized that the teacher had yet to arrive.

A girl with long light brown hair sat by her side, her nose buried inside a book.

"You like the Midnight Chronicles too," May asked, a large smile gracing her lips.

The girl looked up from the book and nodded shyly.

"Ugh, can you believe what happened to Stacy in book three?"

The brunette's eyes seemed to brighten. She place a pink bookmark into the novel and set it down. "She had it coming."

"Everyone says that, but I honestly think that she didn't kill Nicki. Brett totally framed her."

"Actually he didn't. Stacy is guilty."

"How can you be so confident with that answer?"

She shook her head, a blush creeping onto her cheeks. "I... erm... know Daisy."

"Daisy? As in Daisy Oak?" May shouted. Her blue eyes widened and she was about talk some more, but the buzz of the classroom had quieted down. She looked around at the other students who had there gazes focused on the front of the classroom. May craned her neck to see who had caused the disruption. A man towered over her desk, arms crossed and eye brow raised. He sported a violet button up shirt that fit tightly, in a sexy way that all of the girls in the classroom were practically drooling over, and black slacks. May could not believe her eyes. Was this a teacher? Was he even old enough to be a teacher? Seriously, the man didn't look a day over twenty-one.

"Are you done?"

May nodded.

"Great now we can begin." The man retreated to the front of the classroom and picked up a black marker before scribbling his name in perfect cursive. "I am Mr. Hayden and I will be replacing Mrs. Anderson as your AP Language Arts teacher this year."

* * *

May stormed down the hallway. Her fist were balled up and her eye brows were furrowed. That damn Mr. Hayden was the most annoying teacher that she had ever had the displeasure to know. He had completely humiliated her in front of the whole class by referring to her as a little Muchlax during the entire class period. What kind of nickname was that? She didn't want to be compared to a big mouthed Pokemon that basically did nothing, but eat all day.

"Wait ! May!"

May slowed her pace and turned to see who had been calling her name. She was a bit surprised to see that it was the girl from earlier. May was pretty sure her name was Leaf.

"Hey."

"Er... Hey. Uh... I was wondering if you wanted to sit with my at lunch," Leaf inquired awkwardly. Leaf was a very shy girl so she had mustered up a quite a bit of courage to ask May her question. Fear of rejection coursed through her body as she stared at the brunette in front of her.

May beamed. "Of course. I will introduce you to my friends. They don't appreciate fine literature as much as you and I, but they're fun. They'll love you, I promise."

"Okay."

Leaf looked down at her feet as May rushed off to her next class. She was honestly a bit skeptical about meeting May's other friends as she had no idea who they would be. It could have been one of the obnoxious girls that enjoyed picking on her and scribbling profanities on her locker in permanent ink. Leaf knew that May was a nice girl and probably didn't hang out with people like that, but in life the possibilities were endless.

She turned to head to her own class when her body collided with another person's and she was tossed to the ground. The contents of her binder was sprawled all over the nearly vacant hallway.

"Shit. Watch where you're go—" The boy's sentence was lost as his and Leaf's eyes met.

Gary Oak.

The shrill screech of the late bell rang through the hallway.

Leaf quickly began collecting her things.

"I'll help you with that."

"I don't need any help," she muttered, shoving a couple sheets of paper into her clear binder pockets.

"What's wrong with you," Gary spat, crawling towards her direction.

"I'm in a hurry. Didn't you hear the bell ring?" Leaf stuck a hand out in front of her, halting the Gary in his tracks.

"If you're in such a hurry it'd be better if you just let me help you," he reasoned.

"Okay, real reason: I don't want your help and I don't like you so please leave me alone." Leaf rose to her feet and began walking. However, she did not get very far considering Gary pushed her against a locker, his hands pinned on the sides her head. She looked up into brown eyes and glared.

"Really, you don't like me, because the way you were moaning my name that night in the barn says otherw—"

SLAP!

"Don't ever talk to me again," Leaf roared. She zoomed off as the resident playboy of East Sycamore High simply held his throbbing cheek. Passing by her second period class, Leaf wondered where she was going. Her feet would not stop.

They kept moving until she was all the way in the back of the school where a large open field lay. It was green and vibrant plants thrived. Gorgeous couldn't even completely captivate it's beauty. Leaf cautiously walked onward, her floral keds meeting the lucious grass. Near the very edge where a wired fence encased the school sat a gigantic oak tree. Somehow, it complimented the rest of the field perfectly. Leaf found herself attracted to it and before she knew it she had descended down, sitting at the very trunk. Then she set her bag down next to her and began to cry. Her body shook as the violent sobs rocked her body. She couldn't stand what her former friend/boyfriend had become.

"Can you keep it down?"

The new voice almost made her jump. Wiping away the tears, Leaf mumbled a quick apology. She grabbed her bag and stood up to leave.

The owner of the voice yawned before saying, "You don't have to leave. It's just your crying pulled me from a good dream."

"It's alright. I need to go anyways," Leaf insured. And with that last comment she was off.

* * *

**^Lunch^**

The lunchroom was always filled to the brim with students and was overall an inconvenient place for talking and eating therefore May and her friends always preferred eating outside in the little patio that stood right outside the cafeteria. May lead Leaf to their regular table, the place they'd been sitting at since they first met in freshman year.

Dawn was already their, picking a way at her salad and staring off into the distance.

May sat down and followed her friend's eyes. "Paul? Really? You like Paul?" She motioned for Leaf to take a seat next to her and she graciously did so.

Dawn's lightly tanned complexion turned pink as she raised her hands up in defense. "No way! I definitely don't like that jack ass."

"Then why were you staring at him?"

Dawn's cobalt eyes lowered back to her food and her hands dropped. "I just don't understand why he hangs out with those guys," she nodded towards his group of friends. "They're a terrible influence on him. Next thing you know he'll be in a gang, doing drugs and robbing old women."

May was stunned to hear the worry that was laced in her friend's voice. This was obviously something that truly worried her as it was rare to see Dawn upset. She was the most upbeat person May knew.

"Paul is really smart. He can think for himself and definitely won't get mixed up in stuff like that. Don't worry." May squeezed her friend's shoulder and gave her a small, assuring smile. Though, she didn't know if she even believed the words coming out of her own mouth.

"Actually," Leaf noted, "he is most likely already in a gang."

May gave her a look and Leaf knew that she had said the wrong thing.

Dawn finally noticed the other occupant at the table. "Why do you think that?"

"I-I was only making an inference," Leaf assured, lying through her teeth.

The blunette opened her mouth to say something else when Misty came through the doors of the cafeteria. She had this look on her face that basically screamed that she was not ready to talk about the sensitive subject that was her relationship — or in this case, lack there of— with Ash. Honestly, she thought of making a run for it, but she knew that those two crazy girls would hunt her down until she told them the full story, with no details, whether big or small, left out.

* * *

**Authors Note:** God, Gary might even be meaner than Paul, haha! Whoops. In the next chapter, we will explore the reason behind why Ash and Misty broke up and May's relationship with the sexy new teacher.

In regards to why I gave Leaf braces, a question that was frequently asked, Leaf has braces simply because I want her to. I feel as though they emphasize the reality of life and that nobody is prefect. As this story takes place in a modern world setting, I wanted to add in things that normal teenagers have to deal with.

I didn't think that there would be such an uproar about this small little detail, haha. Now, I am wondering if you guys have an issue with braces.


	3. 3: May's New Neighbor

_Cause&amp;Effect_

^May's New Neighbor^

* * *

**Senior Year: Semester 1— Lunch**

Misty set her tray down and sat. Her eyes shifted so much she even noticed that there was another person sitting at their usual spot. She put on her sweetest smile and greeted the girl.

"Hey, I am Misty."

"Leaf," Leaf mumbled, giving the ginger a small toothless smile. She hated showing the metal braces that decorated her teeth. "Nice to meet you."

"And I'm Dawn," the blue haired girl interjected. "Now that we're through with introductions, Misty tell us what happened with Ash."

"That's her boy— I mean ex. They broke up over the summer, despite being the perfect couple. They were basically like the real life Brett and Julia," May explained, filling Leaf in with all the details so she wouldn't be confused. Leaf nodded.

"It wasn't a big dramatic thing," Misty began, resting her chin on her palm. "My sister's were on tour all summer so my parent's basically forced me to go along with them. Ash wasn't too big on the idea, since we wanted to spend the whole time together, but I couldn't convince them to let me get out of going since they were going on a long business trip. I offered to stay with Ash, but they weren't having it. So in the end, I was on a boat, sailing here and there for two months. When we came back to Cerulean, I found out Ash had spent all his time with Serena. I didn't mind too much, I knew they were close."

"Oh my god. Did he cheat!" Dawn cried. Everybody sitting on the patio looked at her. She blushed and quieted her voice. "Did he cheat?"

"Will you let me finish," Misty asked, shaking her head.

"Okay, I'm sorry."

"Anyways, Serena and Ash had been hanging out a lot and the fact that I came back didn't change that. Even when I wanted to hang out with Ash alone she always seemed to be there. Ash always invited her. Most of the time I felt like a third wheel while they would talk animatedly about this and that. It was starting to feel as if we weren't as close as we used to be, but I bared through it because I love Ash. Then, he asked to take a break," Misty's breath hitched and the girls around her wondered if she was going to start crying. May and Dawn honestly doubted it. Misty was the toughest girl they knew. She did have another side of her, a more vulnerable one, but that side rarely came out. "And, I don't know why now, I said okay. All I want is for Ash to be happy and if that's not with me, I'm glad it's with Serena. She's sweet. They're cute together, " her voice cracked and she blinked back some tears that were rising in her eyes.

"Ugh, I wish I could hate her," Dawn grumbled. "But she's so perfect and nice."

May slid closer to Misty and rubbed her back.

"Don't. You're going to make me cry."

"Maybe that's all you need," May addressed.

"Yeah, Mist. Let it out," Dawn chimed in.

Misty shook her head, eyes shut tight. "Not here. I don't need all that attention."

May and Dawn both knew that Misty wouldn't cry at home either. Home had too many people that would mercilessly question her.

"You wanna go to Starbucks?" Dawn suggested, gently nudging her ginger friend in the side.

"Are you paying?" Misty asked, her voice muffled because of the hands on her face. She hated allowing people to see her in such a weak state.

"Sure."

"Okay."

"Leaf, do you want to come too?"

Leaf nodded, grateful to the group of girls for including her in spite of not knowing her all too well.

* * *

**^After School^**

May didn't like her house— not the building itself, which was stunning, but rather the environment. It was too stiff. Her parents had so many rules that she was forced to follow, they had some many expectations of how they wanted things, and they were so judgmental. Most of the time, she felt like she was suffocating. May adored her parents, but they really needed to lighten up.

Opening the door as lightly as possible, May snuck into the two story house. She slid her shoes off her feet, another rule that her parents created, and set them down aside everybody else's. Observing the shoes in the front portion of the house could tell you a lot in May's family. It told who was home as well as where they had been. According the two pairs of shoes sitting adjacent to the door, her mother and her younger brother, Max, were the only ones home. As per usual, her father was not. His job kept him away for weeks on end at times. It was unfortunate, but now May was used to it and so she rarely got her hopes up.

The house was undeniably beautiful, yet it still maintained that homey look, one that was most prominent when looking at the walls. Nearly every wall in the Maple residence was decorated with photos of the family, from the very beginning of their lives to the current time period. May's mom prided herself in keeping them updated.

May rushed past the kitchen in hopes of not catching her mothers attention and it had almost worked, but Max ruined it all when he opened his big mouth.

"Oooh May's home late."

May shot the eighth grader an irritated look and noted to strangle him later. She couldn't understand how he could still be so annoying, despite nearly being in high school. For a split second, May wondered whether she was ever that annoying when she was his age.

"Ah, May, honey, you're home."

"Yes, mom."

"Why were you so late? School ended at three and it is four o'clock." May knew that she had no excuse. Her house was less than two blocks from where the school stood and the traffic in Petalburg was always smooth, never any blockage as their weren't many accidents and not many people.

"I went to Starbucks."

"Was that absolutely necessary, honey?" Caroline asked. The chopping sound of her knife slicing through the lettuce and coming in contact with the cutting border became even more intense. May was completely aware that this conversation was most likely going to turn into a fight. Honestly, she didn't like fighting with her family members, or anyone for that matter, but it was basically impossible not in the Maple house. All the rules made it like she was tip toeing around all the time. She couldn't obey every rule and be happy at the same time. It was simply impossible.

"Misty was feeling a bit down so Dawn and I—"

"You're still hanging out with that girl?" Caroline interjected. She set down the knife, placed her hands on her hips, and stared directly at May.

May bit her lip. Mentioning Dawn's name had been a complete accident. May was actually not allowed to hang with Dawn as Caroline thought she was a bad influence, most likely because she paraded around in short dresses and skirts. Plus, her mother, Johanna, was a single parent, which her parents frowned upon.

"Yes, mom, I am, but I don't think it's fair that you get to control who I hang out with."

"Obviously I must as it drives you to break the rules. Was it not, Dawn's idea to go to Starbucks?" Caroline asked, a frown creasing the skin on her forehead.

"That's beyond the point," May claimed.

"Oh but it is. Dawn was the one who decided that you guys would go to Starbucks to cheer up Misty and you went. She made you break the rules."

"She didn't make me do anything," May cried.

"And now you're raising your voice at me," Caroline muttered, shaking her head.

Max stood up from his seat at the kitchen islands in the middle of the room before quietly sneaking out of the room. He went unnoticed.

"I don't want to raise my voice at you, but your being unreasonable."

"No. May, you are being inconsiderate. Do you know how worried I get when you're late?" Caroline slammed her hands down on the counter.

"That's not even the issue here," May countered. "You just want to control every little aspect in my life."

"I need to control somethings to ensure that you grow up the right way. And you cannot do that if you continue hanging out with that slut of a girl, Dawn." Caroline came from behind the counter and stomped towards her daughter. She looked her up and down before shaking her head. "Look," she pointed towards the hem of her shorts, "look at that. Your shorts is just barely finger tip length. They should be to your knees or at least mid thigh, but your butt is practically hanging out."

May's face became red in anger. "You're completely exaggerating!"

"Don't yell at me, May."

"Whatever," May grumbled under her breath.

"Don't 'whatever' me."

"Can I do anything?" Her face was becoming as red as the bandanna wrapped around her head.

"As of now no. You're grounded. Give me your keys."

"I didn't do anything."

"Really? You didn't do anything May?"

May shook her head in frustration, dropped the keys into her mother's hands before storming up the stairs and into her room. She slammed her door and locked it, breaking yet another rule in the house. May was not allowed to lock the door in her room due to the "no secrets rule." Apparently, locking the door meant you had something to hide in the Maple house. Most of the time, May only locked her door to simply change her clothes.

Shockingly, Caroline didn't comment on it. May was grateful.

Throwing open her window, May pulled her homework out of her back pack and sat her desk. May loved where her desk was situated, right in front of her window, giving her a nice view, although it was blocked by the house next door. The house was vacant— Well, that's what May had thought before she saw a man appear in the window. His body was that of a models and May could not bring herself to look away. Talk about gorgeous. Water dripped down his perfectly sculpted chest and down into his white towel. The man next door cheered her up for a while, until he turned so that May could get a better view of his face. That's when everything went back down the hill and misery rose again. Her blue eyes nearly popped out of her head. No way! It was Mr. Hayden from school!

"Ugh," May groaned, ripping at her hair. "Why did it have to be him?"

Mr. Hayden looked up then.

May slapped a hand over her mouth. Oh shit, he'd heard that.

He flicked the bang that rested over his right eye. "I didn't know you were a peeping Tom too, Munchlax?"

May felt her face burned up. "I am not!" She shouted, jumping out of her chair. "And stop calling me MUNCHLAX!"

The dumb smirk that played on his lips as he chuckled drove May crazy. How annoying could a single person be?

"I would say by the way you were gazing at me that you were in fact peeping," Mr. Hayden teased. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about your guilty pleasure of watching men change. It'll stay between you and me."

"But I—" It was too late to say anything, however, because just then Mr. Hayden pulled the doors of his window closed and shut the curtains. May felt her eye twitch. Rather than lingering on how annoying the older man was, May decided to focus all her attention on her homework. Of course, that didn't happen because all she could think about was Mr. Hayden and not just about how aggravating he was, but also how undeniably sexy he was. May wished he was ugly.

"May," came the nasally voice of Max from behind her door.

"What?"

"Are you all right? Who were you talking to?" He asked. Max was truly concerned that maybe his sister was crazy.

"Eh... I'm fine. Just face chatting," she shouted, biting her lip.

"Okay." When May heard the light footsteps of her brother retreat to his own room she exhaled a relieved sigh. Hopefully, he didn't say anything to Caroline about this. That would most likely be disastrous. After doing her homework, May washed up for dinner, which she was sure would be awkward with the current tension that hung between her and her mom.

May sighed before climbing down the stairs. She peeked her head in the dining room where Caroline was setting up the table. It was obvious by the slightly disappointed expression on her mom's face and the fact that only three places were set at the table, that Norman — her father — would not be joining them that evening. May felt bad for making her mother upset when she had other things she had to think about, but she simply couldn't bring herself to apologize with the way Caroline spoke of Dawn and all.

"Do you need any help, mom?" May inquired, stepping into the room.

A small smile brightened Caroline's face and she nodded.

May picked up the bowls of food and set them in the middle of the table.

"Ah, May have you seen our new neighbor?"

She almost dropped a plate of desert at the mere mention of Mr. Hayden.

"Oh, no. I haven't."

"They're lovely people,"

May scoffed, until it registered in her mind that her mother was not speaking of a single person. "Wait! They?"

"Yeah. They're a couple, Andrew and Brianna. I think they said they were engaged. How sweet."

"Oh, that's cool."

Dinner went on without event.

"So his name is Andrew," May mumbled under breath as she climbed the stairs.

* * *

**Authors Note:** I wish Drew was my neighbor. I'd secretly watch him change whenever possible. Haha, oh goodness I'm terrible. The next chapter will focus on our girl Leaf.


	4. 4: The Boy Under the Tree

_Cause&amp;Effect_

^The Boy Under the Tree^

* * *

**Senior Year: Semester 1—AP Lang. **

Leaf glanced at her image in the mirror. Her lips were dry and absolutely hideous, but that was a given, considering the extensive amount of time she spent chewing on them and, not to mention, her metal braces. Anxiety was the key factor in the appearance of her lips. There were a number of things that caused this anxiety, the biggest being Gary Oak and public speaking. Leaf was a shy girl, that only broke from her shell when she was around people she was completely comfortable around. Gary Oak and the majority of her fellow peers were definitely not people that made her feel at home so when Gary flashed her a smile before first period Leaf was puzzled for the rest of the day.

May tossed a look of her shoulder to see Leaf frowning at the sheet of paper in front of her. She adjusted her body ever so slightly to look at the girl, but at the same time not look as if she weren't paying attention to her assignment.

"What'd that poor paper do to you?"

Leaf blinked rapidly and looked up from the sheet in front of her, a dazed expression masking her face. May honestly thought that she looked as if she didn't even know what was going on.

"N-nothing. I just— I don't even know what I'm talking about. What are we doing again?"

May giggled. "Oh goodness, what's up with you? You're usually so focused."

Leaf began chewing on her lip. "I-I was just thinking about this guy—"

"Ooooh, Leaf's got a boyfriend," May teased, an enormous grin spreading from one of her ears to the other and creating little wrinkles at the very edge of her eyes. She loved hearing about love and romance, especially from quiet people. Quiet people were typically the ones who passed all the tests and were super smart, since they didn't spend all their time blabbering during class, so most people, including May, thought they spent the majority of their time studying and therefore leaving no time for extracurricular activities such as dating.

"That's not it," Leaf said, her voice deadly serious.

"Then, what is it?"

"This guy—"

"Does he have a name?"

Leaf shifted her eyes away from May's prying ones.

"Okay fine, you don't have to tell me. Continue." Pencil ghosting over her paper feigning to write, May listened intently to Leaf's tale.

"I used to be friend's with this guy, but in sophomore year we drifted— No that's not right word. He started acting different towards me. The things he said were so terrible, May. He called me just about every name in the book, from dumb to slut," anger boiled in the pit of Leaf's stomach as she uttered the vile words, " and he basically told me not to talk to him anymore because I was ruining his reputation. It wasn't anything like him at all. Gary, despite being an in your face kind of person, is not a jerk. He plays around, but he doesn't truly mean it."

"Did you just say Gary? As in Gary Oak?" May cried.

"Oh m gee," squealed one of the girls sitting next to May. "Did you just say Gary Oak? He is such a dreamboat."

Another girl sighed, her hands clasped together and her eyes sparkling. "He's so cute and cool."

"I wish he was my boyfriend."

Comments about the aforementioned teen came from all sides of the classroom, nearly every girl in the classroom disrupted from their work.

Mr. Hayden looked up from his desk, pinning May with one of his looks. May shrunk in her seat under the scowl before pursing her lips tightly together and turning back to her work. She silently tore a quarter of the paper behind her essay. Quickly scribbling down a couple words, May whipped backwards towards Leaf and tossed the paper to her before returning to the assignment at hand. A small sigh was released from her pink lips when she peeked up from her notebook and noticed that Mr. Hayden had gone back to his work.

Leaf unfolded the crumpled the paper, her green eyes immediately scanning it.

_You and Gary used to be friends!_

Leaf turned the paper over and scrawled an answer.

_Yeah. I've known him since he was in diapers. _

_OMG! You have to tell me about this at lunch. 'Kay?_

Leaf stared at the paper in her hands for a long minute, skeptical about whether or not to tell May everything. She already started the story so why not? And May was a sweet girl and was one of her first real friends in a long time. The brunette had even offered her a permanent seat at her friend's lunch table so she must want to continue their friendship. She hesitantly picked up her pen and composed a response. Before she knew it the crumpled sheet was out of her hand and on May's desk.

_Ok_

The bell screeched, signaling the end of class.

"Okay everyone. Turn in your essay," Mr. Hayden ordered, standing from his desk.

Leaf's eyes widened. "Oh shit."

* * *

May talked animatedly to her Leaf as they zig-zagged through the corridor, evading every other person. Leaf listened halfheartedly, responding every now and then, but most of her concentration was on Gary as it had been since the day began and he smiled at her. This smile was not a smirk, but a genuine grin that Leaf had always adored,with his pearly white teeth that emerged when his lips parted and curled. It was the cutest thing and it made her heart flutter. Leaf thought back to her response earlier that morning. She mentally slapped herself for looking away and storming to her class. Ugh, what if that had been her only chance to— No! Leaf stopped herself. These thoughts were absolutely ridiculous. She wanted nothing to do with Gary Oak. Nothing good came from liking him.

So lost in her thoughts, Leaf didn't notice when they arrived at her locker or when May gasped.

"Who did this?" she shouted.

Leaf was yanked harshly from her thoughts and back into reality. That's when her eyes landed on the green door of her locker. _Fuck off whore,_ was spray painted in blindingly hot pink letter across the door with a single initial _C_ identifying who had been there. Leaf had a number of girls that had it out for her at East Sycamore. Why was something she could never figure out. She barely knew the majority of her bullies, yet they seemed to know so much about her. Enough to hate her guts anyway.

"Oh," she mumbled, her eyes dropping as she entered in her combination and pulled open the door. May was shocked to see a small towel and a multi-surface stain remover sitting on the top shelf.

"Does this happen often?"

"No," Leaf whispered, spraying the door and then scrubbing hard with the towel.

May planted her hands firmly on her hips. "If it isn't then why do you have these supplies prepared?"

"Sometimes, my locker gets dirty."

"Leaf—"

"May. Drop it."

"No, you're my friend and I need you to tell me the truth." May's position was firm and it was obvious that she wasn't going to let up any time soon.

"Later, okay," Leaf continued scrubbing diligently.

May stared hard at Leaf. The length of time that they had known each other had been short, May still felt the need to know her, after all a friend was a friend no matter what. "At lunch you can explain everything to me."

Leaf nodded. "See you then."

When May was gone, Leaf slammed the door shut and ran. She didn't know exactly where she was going, but she knew she wasn't going to stop. Once she was out the doors of the school, Leaf closed her eyes and took a moment to catch her breath. The slight creek of the door behind her prompted her to get moving again. The next thing Leaf knew she was in the field she had stumbled into last week. The luscious green grass extended for what seemed like forever, only stopping at the wired fence. It was all too tempting. Leaf slid her black tennis shoes and socks from her feet. With her shoes in her hand, she strolled through the meadow. The cool grass felt amazing between her toes. Being out here was far better than sitting inside a stuffy classroom. Nothing could hurt Leaf here.

The tree before the gate towered over Leaf as she approached, but it wasn't intimidating like the majority of the tall building in the Kalos district. The tree had a friendlier air to it. Perhaps, it was due to the slight hunch in it's back or the carvings of hearts embellishing its middle. Leaf couldn't put her finger on it, but it was calling her name.

Resting her back against the trunk, Leaf whispered, "do you mind if I scream?"

"Yeah."

Leaf screamed, although not for her intended reason. Her heart raced in her chest, she definitely hadn't anticipated anyone else being here with her.

"Why are you so loud," the boy on the other side of the tree inquired, stretching out his arms and yawning.

"I'm sorry," Leaf mumbled.

"It's cool, but, honestly, every time you've been here so far there's been something wrong. What it up with that?"

"N—"

"Don't say "nothing" because no one screams and cries about nothing," the boy said, rubbing his eyes. "At least, just tell me that you don't want to talk about it."

"Sorry."

"You don't need to apologize all the time."

"So— I'm sorry for being sorry."

A deep laugh stunned Leaf and felt her cheeks become warm.

"You're something else entirely." The boy rose to his full height and rounded the tree, finally exposing himself to the shy girl. The blush dusting her cheeks became darker. He was undeniably handsome and, not to mention, familiar. A messy mop of black hair sat on top of his head, covering the majority of his forehead in the form of bangs. Dazzling auburn eyes lay yonder. Even his slight smile made Leaf's heart flutter. Scrutinizing green eyes narrowed, taking in each and every feature of the young man's face. Hmm... she knew this boy. It wasn't even a minute later that Leaf realized that the person who stood aside her was class president and captain of the soccer team, Ash Ketchum.

Plopping down next to her, Ash stunned Leaf by saying, "you're Leaf, right?"

Her green eyes widened. No one knew her. Her teachers even forgot her name every now and then. So how did someone that stood on the pedestal of popularity know? She nodded, racking her mind for any times in her whole high school career that she might have let him borrow a pencil or something of the sort. If they had, she certainly couldn't recall any moments.

"H-how did you know?"

"As the class president of the student body, I taking to knowing the people. It's my duty. Besides, isn't it only normal to know your classmates. We've had at least three classes together since freshman year so how could I not know you?"

"I just thought since we've never talked that you didn't know I existed."

He smiled. "We're talking now so that's good."

Leaf admired the grin on his face. Ash's smile was nothing special. It was considerably simple, actually. In spite of this Leaf found it breathtaking. His smile prompted her lips to curve and reveal the metal braces that adorned her teeth. She didn't notice the way she was grinning until Ash commented on it.

"You're smile is so cute," he beamed. "You should do it more often and cry less often."

Leaf wondered if Ash knew what he was doing to her.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Ah, Ash, you are such a pimp. Can I be the next girl on your list :3 Was this chapter enjoyable? Tell me what you guys think by dropping a review. I'm so feeling this story right now. Don't you guys just love drama? I know I do. Life is boring without a little drama.

On another note, how do you guys like the way I am characterizing Leaf? I don't know too much about her or how she would interact with Gary as she isn't in the anime. All I know is what I see in other fanfictions.

The next chapter will be focusing on May because I love myself some ContestShipping. Tell me, how are you guys liking their relationship so far. I know that some people might have an issue with it because he's an older man, but, honestly, I don't think it's about age. Personally, I think it's all about how to people feel about each other.


	5. 5: Writing Conference

_Cause&amp;Effect_

^Writing Conference^

* * *

**Senior Year: Semester 1— Lunch**

Leaf contently strolled through the hallways, without a care in the world. Hanging out with Ash induced a feeling in her that she hadn't felt in a long time. Sure she had tons of fun eating with May and her friends, they made her feel at home, but this was different. Leaf knew that she had just met Ash, but after spending four periods lounging under a tree and listening to Ash's numerous stories Leaf couldn't help feeling that this boy was different. He was simply unbelievably amazing. Not only was he nice, but he was also generally fun to be around. Biting down on her lip, Leaf thought about when they could hang out again. She couldn't wait.

With light steps she pranced through the crowd of students in the lunch room. Her main focus had quickly changed since talking to Ash.

Across the cafeteria Gary Oak gazed longingly at his childhood friend and ex-girlfriend. She seemed to be in a daze, her eyes glazed and her body moving fluidly through the herd of hungry students. It was so unlike her. The majority of the time Leaf was attempting to squeeze through the students, consciously apologizing to anyone she bumped into. Typically, she was looked utterly uncomfortable, so Gary's thoughts were completely focused on what could have happened today to change her overall mien.

A desire to stand from his seat and inquire about this mood rose in Gary's chest, but he knew he couldn't. Leaf loathed him. She wouldn't tell him anything.

"Gary," Giselle chirped, curling her arms around his waist and resting her head on his shoulder. Gary reciprocated the action and pecked her on the forehead. "What's wrong? You seem distracted."

"It's nothing," he mumbled, his voice totally betraying his words.

Giselle followed his wandering eyes. Her pretty facial features immediately contorted into an expression of abhorrence as her eyes landed on her boyfriend's subject of interest. Leaf Green was the culprit once again.

Bringing her hands up to Gary's face, Giselle cupped his cheeks, looking into his deep brown eyes. She leaned forward and captured his lips with her own.

Gary refrained from sighing and forced himself to kiss her back. It was not like he didn't like Giselle or that she wasn't attractive, because she was and he did, but she wasn't Leaf.

Leaf strode past Gary's table without even a single glance, trumping Gary's attempt at catching her shimmering gray eyes. Pulling back from the kiss, he cursed under his breath.

"What's wrong Gare Bear?" Giselle cooed, littering her boyfriend's cheeks with soft pecks. He smiled slightly and shook his head.

"It's nothing."

Her skeptical eyes scoured his face and her glossed lips pursed as if she had bitten into an especially sour lime. "If you say so."

* * *

May beckoned Leaf over with a wave. Happily, the brunette obliged, running over and ultimately tripping over her untied shoelaces. She nearly fell face first into the hard stone table, but caught herself. Laughing at her own clumsy tendencies, Leaf flashed her friends one of the biggest smiles they had ever seen on her fair face. Even her braces could be seen in this grin.

A fine orange eyebrow lifted when Leaf finally sat down between Dawn and Misty.

"You look happy," Misty noted.

"Do I?" Leaf asked, leaning her cheek on her propped fist.

"Yeah!" Dawn cried. "You have this gorgeous glow about you today. What happened?"

"I'm just happy."

"That's obvious," Misty snorted. "Now, tell us why?"

"I just met this amazing person. Well, I kind of always knew him, but I didn't know him, you know. Like, we've never spoken until four periods ago, but we've seen each other around school before. Anyways, he was just perfect. He just cheered me up."

"Who?"

Expectant eyes bore into both sides of Leaf's head and suddenly she felt her face heat up. Was it okay to tell them? Fear brew within the very pit of her stomach and her expression turned sour. Gary always hated when she talked about him to other people so would Ash hate it to? They were two entirely different people, Leaf knew, however, they both stood on that pedestal of popularity. The very last thing Leaf wanted to do was ruin Ash's reputation and lose her new friend.

"No one in particular," Leaf stuttered, fidgeting uncomfortably in her seat and looking down at her clammy palms.

"Yeah right." Dawn nudged the girl adjacent to her. "Tell us who you met?"

"Drop it," May interjected before Leaf could even get a word in. She was grateful, well at least she was at first. Then the conversation veered onto a path that she had not wanted to step onto. "There are more important things we must discuss. Right, Leaf." Light brown hair shadowed eyes as Leaf bowed her head.

"What's going on," Misty questioned, setting down her fork and diverting her eyes and attention to the evasive girl. Dawn followed the athlete's example and turned her head. The incessant lip chewing began again as Leaf's comfort level dropped. She couldn't handle pressure very well. It simply made her explode at people, something she absolutely hated doing.

"Someone painted terrible slurs on Leaf's locker this morning," May finally stated. Whipping out her phone, she swiped through her pictures until she arrived at the one that depicted her friend's locker. She raised it up for all three girls to see. Leaf shrunk in her seat.

For a second, a thick silence hung between the girls. The silence gnawed at Leaf like a piraña. It was so uncomfortable. She wanted the ground to open up and swallow her whole, anything to keep from having this conversation. Why did happiness always get torn from her hands? Life simply hated her and that was a fact. Anytime something good happened to Leaf life always found a way to screw it all up.

"Is this the first time," Dawn questioned, setting a delicate hand on Leaf's shoulder.

She didn't respond.

"Do you know who did it," Misty shouted. Her feelings were always worn on her sleeve. Anger was prominent not only in her voice, but her facial expression. Her eyebrows knitted together and the slightly tanned skin of Misty's forehead creased.

Leaf winced. She never did well with loud noises.

"Well!"

"Mist, calm down," May said quietly, gently setting a hand on her arm. She turned to Leaf and spoke calmly. "We need to know what you know Leaf. I know you don't want to talk about it, but—"

"Then why are you forcing me to do this!" Leaf cried, startling the girls. "Why can't we just drop it?" She mumbled in a much softer voice. "It's no big deal, I promise. This has been going on for so long that it doesn't even bother me anymore. There is no point in dwelling on the past. I choose to look forward. Besides, isn't ignoring a bully always the best option."

"The best solution is to report a bully to an adult, someone who can do something about it," Dawn stated matter-of-factually.

"That's what they say," Leaf mumbled, "but it only makes it worse."

* * *

**^After School^**

When May arrived home she immediately flopped onto her bed and sighed heavily. Her mind raced with thoughts of the day. Perhaps, Leaf was right. Ignoring bullies did ensure that they would most likely get bored and give up. All they want is a reaction.

"May, honey, are you okay?" Caroline asked, leaning in the door frame.

"Yeah," May mumbled, sitting up.

"Do you have homework?"

May nodded and yanked her work out of her bag before moving to her desk. "I'll start now."

"Alright, honey. If you need to talk I'm here."

"Sure." More like yeah right. If she talked to Caroline about it she'd overreact and get too involved. It would be a total mess.

Caroline stared at her daughter for a moment longer before retreating down the stairs to finish dinner. May glanced out the window into the neighboring house, silently hoping to see her teacher coming from the shower once again. She wasn't too fond of Mr. Hayden, he was far too agitating for her taste, but she had to admit he was rather easy on the eyes. Unfortunately, the curtains were pulled together, obscuring any view May desired.

Shaking her head, May glanced back down at the half written essay sitting in front of her. She lost any passion she once harbored to continue writing for the topic. Uniforms didn't seem like an important topic anymore. It was definitely not serious enough. With the eraser end of the pencil in her mouth, May racked her mine for something else. Something that mattered, something that personally affected her.

...

...

Bullying, of course! It effected her life, as well as many others and it was an important topic that needed to be addressed.

Pencil hit paper and elegant yet powerful vocabulary were thrown on the paper. Keeping her pencil in pace with her mind was a bit difficult, but May knew she could always edit her work. This was too serious to stop and check now.

* * *

Drew slightly pushed the curtains back, peering into his student's room. A small curve formed a smile on his lips as he saw her fervently scribbling on her paper, her hair pulled out of her face in a messy bun, and her tongue poking out of the side of her mouth. She appeared so focused, it was absolutely adorable. He gazed for a moment longer before continuing to his destination, the shower.

* * *

**^AP Lang.^**

The following day, Mr. Hayden stood at the door, a basket sitting in the palm of his hands. As each student entered they placed their completed essays inside. Leaf who stood at the back of the line, bit her lip. She had been completely out of it the day before so she hadn't been able to get anything on paper. The fact that she didn't even know what the assignment was also played in to the equation.

Oh God, it was only the second week of school and she was already going to have a missing assignment in the grade book.

As the line quickly began fading into the classroom, Leaf took a few steps backwards before completely turning around and quietly heading down the hallway. Being absent would be a great excuse for not turning it in. Plus while she was out she could get something down.

Upon taking her seat, May scoped the classroom for any signs of her literature buddy, but Leaf no where to be seen. She sighed. It appeared that today she was going to be alone.

"Today is conference day students. Each student will have their essay read by yours truly," May groaned inwardly, "and I will call you guys up to discuss your strengths, weaknesses, and how you can work on your issues. Meanwhile," he picked up a remote and flicked on a movie.

The movie played for ten minutes before May was called up to Mr. Hayden's desk. She stood and shuffled to the front of the classroom, ducking when she passed the projector.

"Munchlax Maple your essay topic was not something I expected from you and, to be honest, the entire thing was shocking to say the very least."

May felt her eye twitch. "Is that a good thing," she ground out through clenched teeth.

He smiled slightly, completely throwing May off. In the two weeks that he had worked at East Sycamore May had never seen him genuinely smile until now. Smirks always plastered themselves on his fair skin. His grin was kind of cute, if only he wasn't so annoying.

"It is indeed. Initially, students come in with limited writing skills, having lost most of it during the summer. They also usually do the very minimum, but your essay is an exception. I could feel your passion in every single word. It's obvious that you poured you heart out and I am truly moved. As your audience, I am definitely persuaded. This could make anyone want to take action."

The flickering of the film was the only light illuminating the classroom and May was happy because that meant her teacher couldn't see her flaming red cheeks. She fidgeted in her chair and whispered a thank you. To hear that her writing was so above average is all May could ever wanted.

"You drift from your main focus sometimes. Occasionally, I notice that you linger on topics for a little too long that it begins sounded redundant, but nobodies perfect and we time to work out the kinks."

May nodded, her eyes raging with intensity. "Anything else?"

Mr. Hayden cleared his throat and loosened his tie ever so slightly. He uttered a no before dismissing her back to her original seat. It was uncomfortable sitting under her relentlessly intent gaze, but at the same time he could see himself in her. His same passion for writing roared in her sparkling blue eyes.

Softly, Drew mumbled, "Good work, May."

Butterflies happily fluttered in May's stomach as she took her seat. The corner of her lip twitched, creating a wide grin. She was **_good_**. Mr. Hayden's words had impacted her in such a good way — for once —. She was _**good**_.

Almost involuntarily, she pumped her first in the air and cheered. Grumbles and growls to shut up as well as put her arm down buzzed through the small classroom. May blushed and shouted, "I'm sorry," to her peers, her voice rising ever louder than the film.

Turning back in her seat, she was startled to see Mr. Hayden's once smiling face altered to a look of annoyance. She smiled sheepishly and shoved her face in the book on her desk.

The bell sounded a couple of minutes later and May packed her things. As she was leaving, Mr. Hayden caught her at the door way. His eyes were serious. May scrunched up her face and stared up at the tall teacher with questioning eyes.

"May, if you're having any problems at school or home, possibly, I'm here to listen."

"O-okay," she replied, still confused.

"Now get to class."

As she drifted into the corridor, her mind spun with questions until she came to the realization that her essay implied the wrong thing. She turned back to explain that he had it all wrong, but his door was already closed and the late bell was scheduled to ring soon. Great, now she'd probably be seeing the guidance counselor soon.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Oh god, I love my self some ContestShipping :D Seriously, this couple and LeafGreen have to be one of my all time favorites. The next chapter will be Ikari because they need some love too. Besides, so far Dawn and Paul have been scarce in this story. That won't be for long, though, I really want each girl to have their own little story line that I will develop over time.

On another note, did you guys know Leaf's eyes are gray? I didn't. I kept depicting them as green or hazel, but according to bulbapedia, a completely trustworthy source, they are either gray or brown. Brown is dull to me so I chose to go with gray for this story. Sorry, to all my brown eyed readers. I have brown eyes too and I really think it looks boring. It's too mainstream, ya know. Haha.

Reviews are always appreciated :D


	6. 6: For Real

_Cause&amp;Effect _

^For Real?^

* * *

**After School — The Bus**

Dawn heaved a sigh and combed a hand through her naturally blue hair, the only thing on her itinerary this afternoon was homework. Senior year was meant to be relaxing. All the classes she initially thought would be easy A's turned out to be the ones that piled her high with work every night, especially her art class.

That stupid art teacher gave her a semester long project in which she had to create a piece of art **every** **single** day from things that 'inspired' her. It was irritating to say the least and, honestly, the only thing she looked forward to about that class, not that she would ever admit it, was the fact that Paul Shinji was there.

Dawn had to admit that she was the most eccentric in art. She couldn't help, but try to get his attention by any methods possible. Literally, she spent most of the class period dropping pens and tripping over things that weren't there. He paid her no mind, but that didn't make her stop trying.

Anyone would've thought she was insane, thinking "Who would ever want to get the attention of the ever so rude and unpleasant Paul Shinji?" But, if they knew about the summer after tenth grade, they'd know why she was so desperately trying to get acknowledged.

A pleasant shiver ran down Dawn's spine as she recalled the amazing summer. She relaxed her head down on the window of the bus and closed her eyes, hoping her dreams would take her back to that time. Slowly, she drifted into dreamland. She didn't even notice the seat dip as new weight plopped down.

"Are you an idiot?"

Dawn's eyes snapped open as the deep, melodious voice danced in the air, echoing over and over again in her head. She didn't even have to turn around to realize who it was.

"I don't even know why I ask when the answer is obvious."

"Shut up!" Dawn cried, whipping around to glare at Paul. The scowl creasing her forehead contradicted the fast pace of Dawn's beating heart. She wanted so badly to grab him in an embrace, warming his icy heart with her body heat. But, she knew she couldn't do that. It would definitely be a big turn off. "Ugh, why are you sitting here anyways?"

Smirking, Paul grabbed Dawn's chin, closing the space between them so that their lips were only inches away. "You're always attempting to get my attention like some lost puppy and now that you have it you don't want it? You need to make up your mind, troublesome."

"G-get over yourself," Dawn stuttered. Her palms were moist with sweat and her heart pounded hard in her chest. Paul continued to lean forward. Only a quarter of a centimeter was left between them when the bus came to a halt. Paul pulled back and rose to his feet.

"You coming?"

* * *

**Pallet Dr. **

Ash flopped down on the hammock, dropping his book bag down on the wooden porch floor. Letting out a long sigh, he angrily ran his hands through his dark black hair. Everything was stressing him out now a days.

First place on the things that were stressing him out was school. School has been on this list since elementary and Ash was pretty sure it wasn't moving until he had to stop going. He couldn't wait until that day when he could create a bonfire in the backyard and burn all his text books. School had barely been in session for two months and he already had two Fs. Usually, he had Misty there to help him study, but since their break up the amount of time they spent hanging out had severely dwindled. He had tried studying with Serena once or twice, but it had been too easy for them to get off track.

Speaking of Misty and Serena, they took spot number two on the stress list. Misty had barely talked to him ever since they split. Every time Ash asked if she wanted to hang out, Misty claimed that she was busy. Ash knew that it wasn't beyond Misty to pretend she had something to do when she didn't want to deal with someone. Seriously, he's known her long enough to know all her tricks. It hurt to know that she would resort to this with him. He cared deeply for both girls and if he could be with both of them, he would, but sadly that wasn't the case. There was a choice to be made and in the end he settled for Serena. She was great, of course, but sometimes he would find his thoughts wandering off to Misty.

Number three on his list was his future. In the mail, Ash had received numerous scholarships from soccer scouts, but he wasn't sure if he even wanted to go to college. He knew he was definitely not smart enough. And if he couldn't make it in college, then what would he do then? Ash had no idea where his life was headed after high school. Aside from soccer, there was nothing that he was particularly good at or anything he wanted to do. Life was moving too quickly. It was like being on a high paced roller-coaster going at a thousand miles per hour, the air quickly being sucked from his lungs, without anything to cling to.

Suddenly, the afternoon son was blocked by the very same person -or rather thing- that took place at number four on Ash's list. At the exact moment that his eyelids snapped open, a vehement feeling of anger boiled and bubbled and spewed in his chest. He quickly stood and glared up at the the tall man.

"What the hell are you doing, Giovanni?" He shouted.

He was rewarded with a hard smack to the face. "Learn some respect, brat," his father spat. Yep, this man in the horrendous orange suit was unfortunately Ash's father. The relationship between father and son was strained to say the very least. Ever since he was a kid, Ash had found that his dad was rarely around. Where the older man could've been going all the time had been a complete mystery to Ash when he was younger because he didn't come home chipper and ready for dinner like TV dads. Giovanni came home angry most of the times. All his mother would say on the subject whenever Ash would inquire was "At least daddy came home." And he did, he always came home.

It was only recently that Giovanni had been locked away for his association with the notorious gang Team Rocket. It was also very recently that Delia began breaking down. Imagine how terrifying it was when Ash came home from soccer practice and found his mother huddled in the corner, hyperventilating and rocking back and forth.

Ash spit out the blood pooling in his mouth. This was a normal occurrence. Giovanni pushed passed his son and into the house, but not without Ash trailing close behind.

"Why did they let you out? You still had five more years!"

His father turned back to him with a smirk engraved on his features. "Good behavior."

"Liar."

Giovanni shrugged his shoulders. "Believe what you want." His attention was already gone from Ash and was now on his beautiful wife. "Honey, I'm home."

* * *

**Veilstone St. **

Dawn felt her heart drop to her stomach when she entered the apartment. Not because it wasn't big or fancy, she'd been here before so she was used to it, honestly it would've been comforting if not for the girl sitting on the couch with a baby cradled in her arms.

Her cobalt blue eyes averted their attention from the frantic girl and the crying baby to an agitated looking Paul. With her lips pursed and her eyebrows furrowed, it was obvious that she had lost the high she had previously been in. Dawn's outside frustration didn't accurately portray what she was feeling inside. She was desperately hoping for any kind of explanation that didn't involve that girl being Paul's girlfriend.

The unknown girl looks up from her crying baby.

"Paul! You're finally home. I- I don't know what to do Mari has been crying forever and she's burning up and—"

"Wait here for one second," Paul said. Dawn looked ready to bolt, forcing Paul to add a quiet "please" at the end.

"Fine."

Paul motioned the girl to follow him into the kitchen. The girl looked about their age, with long violet hair that swept down to her knees, her eyes were enormous and brown, and her skin was the color of rich milk chocolate. Despite, her small stature and baby face, Dawn had to admit that she adorable. She didn't look like the type of girl to have a baby so young, nor did she look like the type to hang out around Paul so the question was why was she? They had to be together. That was the only reasonable explanation. Paul had very few close friends and he wasn't very nice so she must have been his girlfriend.

Dawn released a strained sigh.

This was impossible! Paul in general didn't like other people so why— Ugh, she couldn't think straight. Trying to make up excuses to cover for him was frustrating. She had to accept the truth. Being a natural beauty with a sweet personality, Dawn was used to being played by boys, but she thought Paul was different. He didn't like hanging around a lot of people and didn't like to play games. He was curt and to the point so if he didn't like you he would say it, but he's never said it to Dawn so what was happening now?

Finally, Paul returned, his expression strained and, Dawn didn't know if she was seeing right, but he also looked worried.

"So, what's going on?"

"Gonna have to take a rain check," he said, refusing to look up into her eyes.

"Oh okay." Dawn turned to leave.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Wow, I am such a bad author, leaving you guys for weeks on end with nothing to read. I apologize guys, I wanna be more consistent, but random things pop in my life that I simply can't steer clear of so the chapters are a bit far between. Other than life's little surprises, my writers block comes into play. I'll feel like writing and then I'll open a word document, type, backspace, type, backspace, and stare it for ten minutes before deleting document. I just haven't been feeling up to it so the chapters may be a little bit shorter than usual. I hope you guys don't mind. I think I'm going to reread my other chapters and try to get back into the feel of things.

The ending was a bit rushed and Paul was completely OOC, but writing Paul in an Ikarishiping setting is hard to do without making him OOC. I hope it wasn't too bad.

On another note, review telling me what you think. Please be truthful and criticize it (constructively of course). I feel like everything I am writing is trash and I need to know how to fix it. The next chapter will probably be focused on **CONTESTSHIPPING and LEAFGREENSHIPPING!**


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